Tales of the Death Eaters
by WildKnght7
Summary: Near the end of the First War, seven Death Eaters discover events that are beyond the control of Lord Voldemort, proving vital in the struggle against the Ministry of Magic and Order of the Phoenix.
1. Regulus Black: 1

Tales from the Death Eaters

Introduction

For several years the forces of darkness have been gathering strength under a terrifying new master calling himself Lord Voldemort. These devoted followers, named the Death Eaters, have nothing left to loose and everything to gain in their war against the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix. The following stories recount how seven Death Eaters begin to discover something else moving behind the shadows – something even out of the sight of Lord Voldemort…

The Tale of Regulus Black

I

Grimmauld Place

The first thing that I noticed in my few seconds' intimacy with the water flowing out of the spout was that, after maintaining its normal lukewarm temperature for a short time, it suddenly went freezing cold. I turned off the tap, shaking my hands off in the sink. My fingers were left with a chilled feeling after all the soap had been rinsed from them.

No.

Not a chilled feeling.

A sense of dirtiness, uncleanliness.

The first impulse I had was to wash my hands again. The grimy feeling coating my hands had noting to do with dirt, I knew. I pressed my cold fingers into my eyes in the hopes that I could freeze away the horrible memories if they could not be burned out of existence. Despite it all, I fared better than my friend, someone whom I least expected to have joined me in the journey. He now rested in the lake, twitching among the rest of those horrible abominations that the Dark Lord employed.

Our quarry rested in my pocket. It felt heavy all the way back to the house. Now, as if it could sense that it was back in the presence of faithful pure-bloods, it had lightened. If my mother knew I had it, she would treasure the thing above all others.

_It_ was the last remnant of the good house - the house of Slytherin.

Shaking off the excess water into the sink, I went to dry my hands. I stepped into the doorway, listening for Kreacher. I heard him moving down the stairs, no doubt coming to see who was in the house. Sure enough, he emerged on the steps a few feet away from me.

"Master?" he sounded as though I should not have been standing there. "Master Regulus?"

His large eyes looked me over. He knew about the Cave.

That was where the Dark Lord took him.

I had sent my elf to what should have been his death. Of all the people in our family, I was the only person that Kreacher treated with some measure of respect. And I had sent him to die, a dispensable tool. Since he came back, that respect turned into a cold disposition. I had to do something to turn that elf's mind around so that the Dark Lord would not come here and find out my secret.

"Kreacher, I need to speak with you." I tried to sound as neutral as possible.

He stood on the step and didn't move.

"Come here," I said firmly.

He started to quiver. He was directly disobeying me, and he was fighting the magic in him that made him follow the orders of any member of the Black house.

"Keacher," I ordered and pulled out my wand.

Kreacher yelped and buried his head behind his hands, knowing what the wand meant. "Master, please…no…please…Kreacher is a good elf, never disobeying Master…" He crumpled down on the stairs.

"Kreacher, look at me." I leaned down so that I was closer to the elf. I had to look him in the eyes for this to work.

He moved his hands away from his eyes, still covering his nose and mouth.

"You were my companion tonight. We went to the cave, and only you came back."

I brought my wand out and pointed it at Kreacher. He shook so badly I could feel the vibrations through the stairs. He wanted to get away from me, and I grabbed one of his arms to keep him from escaping me. I continued, despite his struggling:

"You may tell _only those false details_ about tonight to Master Regulus or someone worthy like him. You may not tell anyone – not Master's cousin or her sister, or Master's mother – the truth. In the name of the most ancient House of Black, I bind you to this secret!"

A blue light shot out the end of my wand. Kreacher let out a piercing noise between a scream and a sob.

It was the darkest spell a wizard could cast against his houself, and it was as binding as the Unbreakable Vow. Elf magic was strong, and could do things that wizards could not. However, bound as they were to wizards, we could overpower their magic with the name of the house they served. Many wizard families, like the Lestranges and the Malfoys, were known for commonly subjugating their elves in this manner.

Never before had I used this magic against Kreacher. He knew of it, all elves did, and other members of the family had used it on Kreacher's predecessors. With a nasty feeling in my stomach, I stood up. Kreacher remained huddled on the stair, clutching the banister. I felt the urge to say something to him, to apologize for what I had done, but the words would not come out. Wizards do not apologize to houselves.

"Kreacher…go back to your room," I said softly, trying to convey a sense of remorse in my words. The elf clambered to his feet and scampered off. I remained standing in place for a moment, staring where Kreacher had lain on the stairs.

My forearm tingled. Then it began to burn. I pulled back the sleeve of my left arm to reveal the skull and snake. It turned solid black. As if it knew I was resisting the call, it stung even more fiercely and the flesh around it turned red. Cursing, I felt for the locket on the inside pocket of my robes. The metal was warm to the touch and I knew it was not simply because it was in my pocket and close to my body.

The mutilated piece of soul felt the call of the Dark Lord and wanted to be joined with him again. For a second, I imagined that I felt it pulsing, like a heart, but forced myself to dismiss it. Now was not the time to allow my fears to run rampant.

Letting the locket settle to the bottom of my pocket, my hand checked that my wand was still secure in the sleeve of my robes. In the heightening danger, I had charmed a little slip of fabric to hold my wand in place right near my hand. Whenever the fingers of my wand hand touched it, it instantly came loose and was available for use.

I pushed the sleeve down over my arm, having tucked away the wand again. My heart quickened; time was running short. I had to find a place to hide the locket before answering the call of the Dark Lord. As my eyes darted up and down the hallway, scanning it for our houself, I wished that my brother were here.

I did not even know where he lived nowadays. Years ago, while he was still in school, he left and moved in with the Potters. He did not even slam the door behind him when he walked out for the final time—that was how I knew he was intent on never returning. When Sirius was pushed past angry, something I had witnessed just two or three times in my life, he fell silent.

_Nothing fuels anger more than fire, except for ice_, he always said. _Fire provokes your enemy to react with more fire. Ice stalls them, freezing them._

_Not until they start to think again and figure out a better way to get at you_, I always thought in response in my head.

Since I could not destroy the locket, it would have to stay hidden here in the house. Amongst all the questionable objects my family had accumulated over the decades, a search of the house would prove fruitless. Especially since very few people knew that Slytherin's last remaining possession had been a locket. At the very least, I could disguise the outside so that it no longer bore the mark of Slytherin. Not even Kreacher could be allowed to know of its existence. Otherwise he would hand it over to our cousin, where it would fall back into the hands of the Dark Lord.

Ah, my cousin.

Dear Bellatrix.

It was only a matter of time before she knew of my treachery, unless the Dark Lord did not find out before she did. It was something that I could not entirely rule out –it was something I should count on.

Kreacher scuffled then dropped something above me. I knew he was the only other living being in the house capable of sentient thought tonight. I darted down the hallway and clattered down the stairs. There I turned the corner to the main sitting room. The glass cabinets, with all my mother's trinkets, rested next to the mantelpiece.

I stepped over to them. Leaving the locket where its false twin had rested seemed like the perfect idea. I opened one of the cabinets. Inside were a bunch of random objects. A silver snuffbox. The ring with the family crest. My great-great grandmother's music box that would lull a hapless listener into a deep sleep, even into death. The thought that I could barter all of these things and that the shopkeeper at Borgin and Burkes would surely love me, passed through my mind. I took out the locket from my pocket.

The silver finish sparkled up at me. Flexing my fingers, I reached for my wand. It fell to my hand perfectly. I stared down at the small object, realizing that I had no idea what kind of protective spells might be upon it. I tried a couple of the simple charms, to no avail. Unsurprised, I searched my memory for a few stronger spells. Urgency rose within me, the Dark Mark burning all the more ferociously in my forearm as I stalled.

"_Altero sigma_!"

The spell should have erased all marks from the outside of the locket. Instead it bounced off the surface and nearly hit me in the face. It hit the curtains, bleaching out the pattern of the hideous fabric.

I took a deep breath. There had to be a way to disguise this thing, part of me knew. The other part of me wanted to stick my burning arm in a bucket of ice.

_Alter it...make it look like the one I stole from here, make it look like the one I stole…_

All the while I racked my brain, wishing that somehow I could remember a spell to transform the locket. The Dark Lord had taken too many precautions for his precious trinket.

The locket burned in my hand. I dropped it, wanting now to plunge my hand into that imaginary bucket of ice more than my arm. A blister in the exact shape of the locket was raised on my palm, as if I had wrapped my hand around it when it first came out of the smelter's oven. However, were the engraving of the curved "S" should have been, there was nothing. I glanced again at the locket. Its silver surface was now so tarnished that it could be mistaken for gold. No engraving marked it or made it discernable.

It was an exact copy of the one that I had removed from my mother's possession.

The only notable difference was that something weighed it down, almost as if the Dark Lord's mark on it had been driven inside – only visible to someone that could pry it open.

Not thinking about how I managed to accomplish this without the outright use of a spell, I tossed the locket into the cabinet. I threw the door shut and hurried out of the room. As if sensing my intent, the mark on my arm began to cool.

Now it was time to answer the call of the Dark Lord.

With a _pop_ I Disapparated.


	2. Regulus Black: 2

II

Little Hangleton

As it was the middle of the night, we all gathered at the traditional meeting place. An old graveyard with garish headstones kept us hidden from the view of any curious villagers. On the off chance that a Muggle became a little too nosy, the Dark Lord employed protections that would repel them from the area during the times that we congregated. I suspected that the aversion was not of a kind nature given the Dark Lord's disposition.

I landed on the ground, and remained in my kneeling position. Turning my eyes, but not daring to move my head, I caught a glimpse of the others in the circle. Nearly all of us were there, at least the ones that had yet to be captured by the Ministry's cursed Aurors. Strangely, there was one absence that I noted – Snape. When I became a privileged member, he took an interest in me for a short time. Perhaps he wanted to see if the other Black brother was anything like the one he recalled from his school days.

Something about the man unsettled me. I could never figure out an inkling of his intentions – I think he is one of the few characters that will do what is best for him and him alone, knowing nothing of true loyalty. I hoped that something foul had befallen him.

Sensing a presence before me, I focused my attention. He stood there, even though all I could see was the hem of his robes. I knew he was practiced in Legilimens, and I tried to shut my mind as much as possible to the locket and what I knew was kept inside it.

_Perhaps he has forgotten it, please let him not recall it now,_ I pleaded desperately.

"What is that I am supposed to have forgotten?" the silky voice said.

I held my breath.

"A detail about your brother's friends, perhaps?"

The pressure in my lungs let out.

"It is nothing of consequence, my Lord," I dared to reply.

"Somehow, I do not think so. Maybe it has something to do with your tardiness?"

I felt like a schoolboy being reprimanded for getting to class late, like I was back at Hogwarts and feeling the keen eye of Professor McGonagall on me as I took my seat minutes after my classmates were in theirs.

"Do you think that I have missed some other important detail, something that would drastically change my plans?"

Unsure of what he meant, I stayed silent.

"Rise. I will dismiss your lateness this once." The Dark Lord turned to the rest of the circle. "I say things only once. This will be the only time I repeat myself. _You do not resist the call of the Dark Mark_! _Crucio_!"

The thought of pulling out my wand and turning it on him passed through my brain. It was quickly washed out by the pain searing my nerves. The screams threatening to tear my vocal cords made it impossible for me to form a coherent string of sounds other than ones of torture. I tried to close my eyes, but clamping them shut caused more agony. Opening them, I took in the surroundings and watched everything grow larger. The pain flowing through my nerves magnified everything until I could see nothing.

After what must have been merely a few seconds, I realized that the pain was receding. It flowed backwards, from the tips of my fingers down my nerves to my spine. Finally it left from the spot where the spell hit me in the side, leaving a dull ache in my ribs.

Holding my breath, I clambered up to my feet.

"You carry secrets, Black. I will discover them." His eyes narrowed at me.

I clamped out every thought of the locket, even of Grimmauld Place, from my mind.

"Details, details, details."

I think it was the first time I have heard him do something so close to muttering. I wondered what I had missed by being late.

"As I was explaining, some of you may have noticed the new absence tonight," the Dark Lord explained. "If someone else has information that I might find pertinent, something that will allow me to avoid a _mistake_ – I suggest that information be divulged now. I do not have to say again that I do not tolerate mistakes."

_Except that my mistake was joining you_. The thought popped into my head before I could control it. Instantly I turned to wondering what Snape could have done to aggravate the Dark Lord.

"After some deliberation, I have decided to proceed with my plans. My new servant has handed me the perfect opportunity despite the latest blunder. I have decided that I will proceed, then work on obtaining what lies inside the Ministry."

My eyes darted over the ring of black-robed witches and wizards once more. Almost directly across from me, just behind the Dark Lord, was my cousin Bellatrix. She shifted slightly as our eyes met.

Because of her, at her persuading, I was now in this current mess.

_Stay true to the family. Think of what your parents, my aunt and uncle, would say when they hear what their son is doing, _she said._ Helping to usher in a new day where wizards can finally live as we were meant to – as the true rulers of this world_.

Only it was a little too late when I discovered that the way to ruling the world was through unforgivable cruelty and evil. I do not like Muggles. However, I do have limits that could be considered decency for all things that are living. The ideals of Hogwarts, under the instruction of Albus Dumbledore, were too deeply ingrained into my head. I could not help but think that the years of persecution the Muggles practiced against the magic they did not understand did not give us justification to slaughter them.

As I became older, I came to understand more of the reasons why my parents hated the Hogwarts Headmaster. And I found myself questioning everything I had been taught to believe – both in my house and at school.

Thus, I learned simply to go along with what I felt to be right or wrong. I'm not self-serving in that I only do bidding that is best for me. Instead, I carry on as I have all my life and only stop when I find I have grave moral misgivings about situations.

I knew I could not stop the Dark Lord.

But at the least, I could make the path a little more difficult for him.

Hence the theft that left my newfound friend buried at the bottom of a slimy lake filled with ghastly creatures that should never have been allowed to walk the earth. I dared not to think too much as to whether or not he became one of them.

The Dark Lord finished his monologue, and with a wave of his wand hand, signaled that we were free to leave. Each person knew what their duties over the next couple days were – and the fact that the Dark Lord failed to give me any instruction did not escape me.

He said, after all, that he knew I was hiding something.

Mistrusted servants do not get orders to carry out.

The group of Death Eaters disbanded, moving into smaller circles to discuss the turn of events. I made my way over to Bellatrix; her husband had left her for his brother and a man that I did not know.

"Where the bloody hell were you, Regulus?" Bellatrix hissed to me.

"Kreacher…you know how the old elf is…knocked over the flagon of dragon's blood, couldn't let it waste…" I lied to cover the truth.

Her eyes narrowed at me. Was I that easy to read? Or did she know some other way that something else had occupied me in the house?

"He knows, cousin. He knows you were up to something before you came here," she whispered to me. "You had best tell him what it is. If he finds out before you do, he'll kill you."

"I think he's going to kill me anyway," I said. I found myself suddenly not giving a goblin's ass what she knew. "The family name only goes so far."

"It's that way only because you suddenly refuse to secure your position. I have to wonder what's gotten into you. I wonder if the only reason you are allowed into the house is because of blood – otherwise you would be locked out, you Mudblood-lover."

I wanted to curse her right there. She knew that was a lie, she was only trying to get me angry. She wanted to prove to the rest of them that I was loyal, that I would not tolerate such an insult.

"I have found out things I would rather not know," I replied.

"What can that possibly be?" She inched closer to me. I was tempted to take a step back from her. She was older than me, and I could recall times where she had bullied me as a child. Sirius always stepped in to help me. I think he believed that a little compassion might be able to save his younger brother from the machinations of the family.

I think he left more of a mark than he ever meant, even though it took a long time to develop.

"Or are you going to run to your brother, that filthy blood-traitor?" she said. "You always did that. You could never stand up for yourself. He's with the Potters. He'll probably die with them."

"Sirius is quite free to do as he pleases. Perhaps you have forgotten that he ran away from the family, disowning himself," I said. "I don't care who he consorts with."

Bellatrix wrinkled her nose, the fabric of her mask crinkling over it. "You won't survive, Regulus. The Dark Lord is getting ready for the final takeover. He will only have those with proven loyalty at his side. All others…will be cast aside."

I nodded to let her know that the meaning of her words was not lost on me. Before she could say any more, I turned to leave.

While he did not know exactly what I had done, the Dark Lord knew I committed a trespass against him. The only thing that mattered now was that he knew something happened. It gave him reason enough to send one of his favorites after me. He would not risk my capture by the Aurors – there were still enough decent ones left that believed in capturing a criminal before killing him. Maybe it would be best for me to turn myself in at the Ministry of Magic. With the names I knew, I would only land myself a few years in Azkaban. It certainly would be a fate better than disappearing like so many others.

I stopped in my thoughts.

The Potters. Snape. Sirius.

They all had been at school together.

For a couple moths, I had heard nothing from my brother. It was not customary for me to meet him regularly for lunch, but nothing for such a long time was a little out of place. In fact, I had heard nothing from him since the Potters went missing. Nobody could find them.

Now Snape was gone.

I knew it was all tied to the Potters. They were central to the movements of the next couple days. The Dark Lord had been after them for months, desperately so, for reasons I did not know. Now he seemed ready to move against them.

Whatever the Dark Lord was planning for the Potters was not my concern. He had his secrets – one of which I knew. I had to tell my brother about the locket I had hidden in the house. He would know what to do with it. And if I found him in time, I just might be able to help intervene with the Potters by throwing the Dark Lord off his plans.

I returned to the house. When I came in the door, Kreacher was in the entryway. He cackled at me.

"Kreacher knows Master's secret! Kreacher knows Mistress no longer happy with her son!"

"Shut up, Kreacher. Go find something to clean." I moved as if I were going to kick the elf. He scuttled out of my way.

The twisted laughter of the elf faded as he made his way up the stairs. Intentionally, he knocked over the umbrella stand. My mother began screaming. She had passed away a few years after my graduation from Hogwarts. Somehow, it was not a detail I wanted to know, how she had her spirit ensconced in the portrait in the hallway.

"MOTHER!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs. "BE QUIET!"

"Is that my Regulus? Please tell me it is my Regulus and not that horrid blood-traitor spawn that should not be mine!"

"Yes, Mother. It's me." I stepped over to the portrait. Her painted eyes narrowed as she looked me over. To watch over the house in her absence, Mother had her portrait painted a few months ago. Whenever she left the house, it kept an even sharper eye on things than she did.

Her voice dropped several decibels. "You always were the favorite, Regulus. Much better than your brother. You would do nothing to shame the house of Black."

"No, Mother," I said simply to appease her. In my head I was thinking, _I have done something to ruin the family name. _

I turned to head upstairs, where the locket was hidden. As if to admonish me for not talking to my mother, the curtains covering her portrait whipped shut. From the top of the landing Kreacher smirked at me.

"Stupid elf," I muttered.

"Master has hidden something. What is it? Kreacher will find it – Kreacher will turn it over to Master's nasty cousin!"

"And Master's nasty cousin will give Kreacher clothes!" I threatened.

Finally the elf fell silent, perhaps he feared me after what I had done to him earlier that evening. Wondering why in the world he was talking about Bellatrix, I made my way to the drawing room. Inside it all the lights were off.

_All others…will be cast aside. _Bellatrix's words rang in my head.

I was sure I left the lights burning when I answered the call of the Dark Lord.

Only Black blood can enter the house.

My fingers brushed my wand, and it fell into my hand.

"Bellatrix?" I whispered.

The sound of movement off to one side of the room caught my attention. She stood near the fireplace. No doubt she wondered what I had hidden in the glass cabinets.

"Bellatrix?" I said, this time a little more loudly so that she heard me.

The lights brightened just enough to cast a pale glow in the room. Bellatrix's dark hair was pulled into a loose ponytail. Strands that had come free framed her face. The cowl of her hood was thrown back over her shoulders. In her hand was her wand; however, she did not raise it against me. She was a fully-grown woman, but her stature reminded me of times when she became determined to make a new experiment out of something – that something usually having been me.

"You've put me into a tough spot, Regulus," she said. Her eyes widened, completing her wild look. "I brought you to the Dark Lord. And you've caused him some trouble."

"Is this merely because I was late after the summoning?" I said. Everything inside me screamed to back away from her.

Except that there was no Sirius to get my back this time.

"Any problems you create for the Dark Lord become mine." Her mouth tightened into a little line. "You know what you did. He knows it, too."

_She has no idea, she's bluffing. She wants to draw it out of me. Because if he knew what I did, then he would be here instead and I would already be dead._

"If you know then take it back to him. Go on. Right now, I dare you."

"Don't toy with me, Regulus."

"You don't know what it is, do you? He just sent you here to kill me. I'm sure he's going to get some sick satisfaction of having you kill one of your own family!" A garish grin broke out on my face. The more I became entrenched in this nasty game, the more I enjoyed it. "Or maybe you can't find it yourself? Maybe you need the help of an _elf_?"

"_Sectum sempra!_" she bellowed.

Before half the spell was out of her mouth I dropped to the ground and rolled. So she wanted to splatter my blood all over the walls before killing me? At least it would give Kreacher something to clean.

"You always were a nasty one, Bellatrix. Always have to prove yourself better than the Black boys – because you can't carry on the family name yourself."

That hit home.

"_Avada–_"

"_Expelliarmus_!"

We both shouted at the same time. Her wand flew out of her hand, the green blast of light still shooting from it. The spell hit the curtains and several dead doxies fell out of them. I wasted no time and skittered across the floor, leaving the room.

Out in the hallway, I got to my feet. Just then Kreacher poked his head out from one of the bedrooms.

"Ooh, Mistress is not going to be pleased with Master! Master has been setting off curses in the house!" he taunted.

"It's that nasty cousin of mine that you seem to love so much!" I shouted to Kreacher. I wanted to blast him with a spell to shut him up. "Better watch yourself, elf. She's in the mood to kill something."

I thudded down the stairs. A blast of yellow light whisked by my face and hit the wall. The wood charred and left a burnt smell in the hallway. Glancing backwards, I saw her at the top of the stairs with her wand back in hand. Kreacher was no longer in sight.

"Just was well," I muttered to myself.

I ran to the front of the house. As I passed by the curtains covering my mother's portrait, I had an idea. I knocked over the umbrella stand again. The curtains flew open and my mother's yelling filled the house. Bellatrix was caught by surprise – another curse did not whiz past me. I opened the door, making my way outside as fast as possible. Just as I turned around to shut it, a _crack_ sounded in the air.

I found myself staring right into Bellatrix's eyes. She had Apparated to the front doorway.

"I don't want to kill you, Regulus. You are, in fact, family. But you have trespassed against the Dark Lord and he cannot allow that. _I _cannot allow it. Let this serve as a warning – _Morsmordre!" _

A sparkling jet of green light flew from her wand. It stopped above the house. My forearm burned, and in the sky I saw the same mark.

The Dark Mark.

The green snake twisted in and out of the skull's mouth. Bellatrix smiled at me, the greenish glow reflecting in the whites of her eyes. Neighbors started to pour out of the other houses on the street. Not wanting to see what she might have in store for the hapless Muggles, I Disapparated.


	3. Regulus Black: 3

AN: Thanks to Losille2000 for her wonderful beta work! Also, a note of welcome to Darth Flamingos for the review. Enjoy the end of Regulus's tale!

III

Hogsmeade

As soon as I left Grimmauld Place, I realized that I really had no idea where I would go next. I was in the heart of London, a place teeming with people. One problem was that I had skirted too close to both sides in this war. A place that proved to be a haven for Death Eaters would be a literal snake pit for me, while a refuge for the Order of Phoenix would be just as disastrous.

Thus I decided to land myself right outside the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade.

Perhaps a good drink would calm my nerves. Also, any information about my brother's whereabouts was more likely to be obtained here simply because of the fact that ne'er-do-wells from all over wizarding society came here for drinks.

Not to mention the trade of illegal items, substances, and information.

The barkeep at the Hog's Head never tried to so much as deter any kind of criminal activity from taking place inside his domain, whether it was simply one drink too many or a plot to overthrow the Ministry.

The heavy summer air rested thickly over the village. Inside the pub, it was even more stifling. I shuffled up to the bar and flagged the old bartender down. I told him that I wanted a shot of firewhisky, and he grunted in acknowledgement. Eyeing the other patrons, I sat down.

Various shady characters were scattered in the pub's seats. Most of them I did not recognize, though not for lack of trying. Ignoring everyone, I turned back to the bar. A few seconds later the bartender came back and slapped my drink in front of me. Before I could give him his payment, he turned away and disappeared into what I assumed the kitchen must be.

I tossed back the firewhisky. It burned down my throat, making me cough a couple of times.

Over in the corner I recognized a particular wizard. One of the Fletchers, I believed, for at the moment I could not recall the fellow's first name due to the firewhiskey. He had a pinched look about him and wore dark, heavy robes. A large suitcase sat next to his chair. From one corner it oozed thick red goop. I got the distinct feeling I probably did not want to know from where that goop came.

I got out of my seat and headed over to the short man.

_Mundungus. _

That was his name. I remembered hearing it at Hogwarts. Whether he was in Sirius's year or not, I couldn't recall, but I knew that he had a definite penchant for the questionably legal.

His back was turned to me as he sat in the furthest booth from the door. Before he could turn around and face me I placed my hand on his shoulder. Leaning close to him I whispered in his ear, "I know who you're waiting for, Fletcher. Just pretend I'm your man and nothing…unpleasant will happen." It was a lie, of course. I had to keep my cover and letting him know I meant business might stall the trouble headed my way.

Fletcher's body tensed under my grasp. "You're one of the Blacks," he said as he glanced at me and gave me a small nod. "Sirius's little brother. I'd know that nose anywhere."

I didn't say anything as I sat down. Once I was nestled across from him, I spoke.

"Enough about my nose. If I were interested in having it altered I'd just blast it off my face."

"Of course." He glanced at the suitcase. "I'm afraid I can't let you have it, though. Special orders from–"

"Dumbledore?" I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

He gulped and pulled his hat down further over his face. I almost half expected him to squeak from fear. Part of me wanted to make him do so.

"I don't care about what's in that thing, Fletcher."

"Name's Mundungus."

My hand felt for my wand and I made sure that he could see the tip of it peeking out of my sleeve. I coughed.

"But what kind of interest would you have in me, Black?" he asked, trying to deflect the tension.

"Call me Regulus, since we seem to be on a first name basis. As for what you can help me with…I need to know where my brother is."

Fletcher buried his hands in his sleeves. "I, ah, wouldn't know anything about that. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you as you're likely to go blow him to smithereens."

I gave my wand a twitch. The wizard nearly ducked under the table.

"Well, that's the trick, now isn't it? No one knows where he is except that he's with the Potters. Find them, you find your brother."

"Don't toy with me. Or you'll find _your_ nose in need of some repairing, and trust me I can put it so wrong not even the best healer at St. Mungo's can put it right. If you don't tell me where he is, though, you'll have to deal with my cousin. And I can guarantee you, _she_ won't leave anything for the healers to put back together."

Fletcher shrugged.

"You don't know where they've gone?"

"I'm not important enough to know that."

"What about that werewolf friend of theirs? Do you know where I can find him?"

"Full moon. Good luck." He nodded his head in the direction of the window.

I ran my hand over my chin in thought.

"You know, you've never told me why you need to find Sirius. Why should I tell you anyway?" Fletcher crossed his arms and leaned back in the booth with an air of defiance. "Last I heard you were one of the Dark Lord's new favorites."

I snorted. "I'm hardly a favorite."

_At least I won't be one after tonight if Bellatrix's words have any grain of truth._

"Let's just say that I have something of importance to pass on to your…side," I leaned forward and said. "Something that changes the whole aspect of the war – that he's going to be _seven__times_ tougher to bring down than anyone imagines." I let Fletcher take that information as he pleased.

"I'm sorry, Regulus. I really don't know anything that would help you." He got up from the booth in a swish of robes. He grabbed hold of the suitcase and another drop of ooze fell to the floor with a wet squelch. The bartender glanced over at us and I'm surprised he didn't curse Fletcher for the mess.

As he turned to leave, Fletcher pushed his hand across the table towards me. His shoes thudded across the floor and the suitcase dripped – catching the eyes of the other patrons. On the table he left behind a piece of parchment. I reached for it and opened it up.

Inside was a name.

The fourth member of Sirius's little school group. A mouse of a man, if I remembered him correctly.

And best yet, he lived on the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

Memorizing the name I muttered "_Incendio_" under my breath to destroy the scrap of parchment. I got out of the booth, making my way out of the pub. I tossed the barkeep a Galleon as I passed in the hopes that would cover part of the mess that Fletcher made.

Outside the pub I made my way down the street toward the end of the village. A few streets with houses branched off from the main road and I wound down them. I had no idea if he would be home or not; it was entirely possible that he was with my brother.

From the outside, his house appeared perfectly normal. It was in medium upkeep – not too shabby but certainly not the best a wizard's house could be. The lot it occupied was alone at the end of the lane, a few trees scattered along the road. My mother would shriek at the sight of it and set Kreacher to fixing it right away. Tentatively, I knocked on the door in the hopes that I was not waking the poor man.

"Who is it?" called a nervous voice. "I know you're not him!"

"Peter, it's me – Regulus. Sirius's brother." I decided that fooling around was not likely to get me anywhere with him.

"What could you possibly want with me?" Peter hissed as the door opened just enough for me to see a sliver of his face. "Go back to your – your friends and leave me be."

Peter moved to shut the door and I put my hand on it, locking my arm so that it could not shut. Standing a few good inches taller than him, I leaned with all my weight on the door. Sensing that he was physically bested, he took a deep breath.

"I'm not here to kill you, if that's what you're afraid of. I really could care less about you – I just have to know where my brother is."

I put more pressure on the door. Peter made a sound akin to a whimper.

"I don't know – he's with – with the Potters. Or maybe you should look for him at home."

"He's not home, he's not lived at home for years and you know it. So where are the Potters?" I was tempted to pull my wand out and show the quivering little squat of a man just what Dark Magic could do. After all he was a blood-traitor, friends with the Potters and their mangy crew.

"I have no idea where the Potters are. Why don't you ask your brother?"

It was the bravest thing I'd ever heard Peter say. I let out a growl and tried to shove my way past him and into the house. Somehow he held it against me and I struggled for a second.

"Fine. Why don't you tell me the location of that nasty werewolf friend of yours?" I snarled. My patience was running out.

"Hand Lupin over so you can kill him, too? I think not! Why don't you ask your cousin where he is? I'm sure she would love to torture–"

"Shut up, Pettigrew! Just so you know, I'm trying to get out of that business!" I shouted. I grabbed hold of the door handle and, to my surprise, pulled it shut with such force that it shook the doorframe. From inside the house I heard Peter scampering away from me. Grinding my teeth, I left Peter's.

_Stupid Fletcher. Sent me on a wild goose chase knowing it would get me nowhere. _

In the street I rubbed my eyes furiously. At this rate, Bellatrix was going to catch up to me before I could get anywhere. Looking up, I realized I was near the top of the hill at the base of which sat the village. Through the haze of the night I could make out a few top spires of a castle.

_Hogwarts._

_Dumbledore._

Surely Dumbledore would know what to do with it.

"Damnit," I cursed when I realized that Dumbledore was not going to be at the school since it was summer. The only place I would have any luck finding him would be at the Ministry.

The Ministry.

Walking in there could just as well end my life.

Not that it mattered with Bellatrix after me.

With a chill going down my back, I turned from Pettigrew's cottage and made my way down the lane. Irritated, I kicked a large stone down the dirt path. It clacked against another rock and came to rest. A few steps caught me up to it so I kicked it again.

_Pop._

I stopped in my tracks at the unmistakable sound of someone Apparating. Hearing nothing else I continued on my way, giving the same stone a third kick.

"Having fun kicking rocks around, Regulus? Tsk, tsk, always the child you were."

I whipped around. "Where are you, Bellatrix?"

"Relax, little cousin."

I heard her move off to my left. Silently I called my wand to my hand but did not aim it in the direction of her voice. I did not want her to think I was afraid of her. Crunching sounded as she stepped over some dead leaves and onto the path. I glanced around me.

The nearest house had to be several yards away – too far for me to run from her. A light went off in the main floor. People were too afraid of getting caught in business that wasn't theirs these days.

Not that I blamed them. Getting mixed up with me would likely get them killed.

At the very least, someone knew we were out here.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked her.

She let out a snort of disdain. "All your brother's little friends hang around here. It was the only logical place for you to start looking for him."

Damn, she was correct. I should have known that Hogsmeade would be too obvious.

"So are you going to kill me now?" I asked dully. Part of me was sick of the game.

_Only a coward would sicken of it so fast. You've not even been on the run for half a day and already you're giving up. You're not even worth the risk to your brother had you managed to find him_, I thought to myself.

"Always the coward." She shook her head. Her hair had been tamed back under her hood. With the night I could only make out her eyes because they were darker than the rest of her face. The full moon was to her back, casting her in shadow.

Definitely a sight to fear.

I swallowed, bringing my wand up.

"Go ahead and kill me. I don't care. The secret's gotten to the right people."

"You filthy traitor!" Bellatrix screeched. "You've sold us all out!"

I opened my mouth to protest then suddenly realized that she had made a grievous mistake. She had no idea, _no idea at all_, about the locket. She had no idea what I had stolen, what the Dark Lord's secret was.

My heart began to beat just a little faster as it dawned on me that I might have a way out of this.

Deciding to dispense of lame tactics first, I said, "Bellatrix. I'm family. I'm your cousin – you couldn't possibly–"

"_You_ couldn't possibly know, Regulus. You have no idea. I should never have brought you to him because you are too weak. I have to kill you. Not simply because He will kill my husband, _my_ family, but because if I don't, then the death He deals to you will be worse than anything I could ever dream up."

I had to admit her words certainly had merit. Bellatrix was a nasty, vengeful piece of work, but I knew that she paled to the point of transparency in comparison to the Dark Lord. The only wizard that had a chance of comparison was Malfoy, simply because of his hatred for magical creatures, Muggles, and mixed-bloods.

The statement "Then why haven't you killed me already?" passed through my head. I pushed it from my mind knowing that I had only a short amount of time and toying with my cousin was likely to make her angrier.

"And it's mighty fine of you to beg me to not kill you because you're family when you've sold us all out to the Ministry," she hissed. "You should know that I hate hypocrites. You filthy Mudblooded bastard."

"Yes, but you don't know _who_ I sold out to the Ministry."

I took a step back from her.

She faltered. "What's that supposed to mean? You know what I am. You know what my husband, what our friends are."

_Except they're not your friends, Bella. And they're certainly not my friends._

"I knew getting mixed up with you would be a bad idea, Bella!" I shouted the words at her. She'd pushed me too far – this was all her fault. She brought me to the Dark Lord, pressed me to go into his service. "I hope Sirius gets to finish you off!"

A nasty grin spread onto her face. "Oh he will, cousin. When he learns what I did to his little brother…I can't wait. Because he'll suffer more than you will…"

She raised her wand.

With a yell I dove at her myself at her. I wanted to tear her eyes out, do anything that might harm her. She did not even deserve the use of magic – only the most brutish form of pain could be applied to her.

"_Impedimenta!"_ she shouted.

I dropped to the ground like a boulder dropped off a cliff. One of my ribs, still sore from the Cruciatus curse I had endured earlier, crunched as it fell against one of the rocks in the road. I took a deep breath, wincing against the pain as I stood up.

"It'll take more than that to drop me."

"Not without Sirius here to save you."

I grinned, raising my wand against her. "_Fractus_!"

At the same time she waved her wand, drawing an invisible "X" in the air.

A sickening crack sounded in the air and I felt my ankle snap as the spell bounced off her shield and back to me. Instantly I dropped back to the ground.

"Don't try to best me. And most certainly do _not_ use my favorite spells against me!"

Bellatrix stepped over to me. Her wand waved and I felt another bone snap, this time in my arm.

Merlins' beard, I had forgotten how good with that she was. Such spectacular aim.

"You can tear me apart. You can tear Grimmauld Place apart. But you won't find it," I whispered.

"Find what?" she leaned down close. I could almost feel the breath coming from her mouth. In a sick twist of irony it smelled almost sweet – as if she had just gorged herself on sugar quills down at Honeyduke's.

I shook my head.

"Do I need to persuade you? You know the Dark Lord has taught me a great deal about persuasion…"

_You're already a great trickster, if that's what you mean. You're simply trying to toy with me before you kill me. I know that I have no way out, but hell if I let you have the pleasure of me begging you to finish me off._

"I know his tricks."

"No, I don't think you do. I wanted to use Avada Kedavra, but I think something a little slower might suit you better. So you can know what you did to your family. I want to watch you die knowing who you betrayed."

"_Pulmorragias_," she whispered.

A dull ache started in the center of my chest and quickly turned into a blinding pain. I gasped for a breath as the air was knocked out of me. Fire ran into my lungs, filling them with a hot flood. I coughed, and blood splattered on the street. I couldn't see it, but I could taste the bitter iron flavor of it in my mouth. I coughed again.

It was only a matter of a few minutes before I died, drowned in my own blood. The healers at St. Mungos could cure me – if my lungs were not turned to mush by the time I reached them.

My heart tried to pump faster to send blood to the other parts of my body as more and more of it seeped into my lungs. I gasped for breath.

The strange thing was that there was no pain. Just a sharp pinch where my lungs should have been, where they should have been filled with air. I tried to think of a spell to say, something to stem the damage, something to lash out at my cousin, but I did not have the air to mutter a word. Even thinking was hard now.

Amid a fit of coughing I was vaguely aware of my cousin stepping back from me.

_Perhaps she's afraid of soiling her precious robes with the dirty work that she's done._

"Bella," I managed to croak. "They'll find you. _They know the secret_."

Another sputtering cough came out of my throat. The world was mostly black and my head sank to the ground. Dirt was the last thing I saw before I closed my eyes.

I had failed.

I hadn't told Sirius my true secret.

I could only hope that one day someone, someone on the right side, found the locket and removed it from its hiding spot to destroy it.


	4. Bellatrix Lestrange: 1

AN: Thank you to Losille2000 for the beta work: )

The Tale of Bellatrix Lestrange

I

The door clapped shut, the lock clicking into place. I tucked my hand back into my robes, feeling to make sure that I had my wand with me. Satisfied that it was there, I turned my back on the house that my husband and I shared – and I use the term 'shared' loosely.

We shared the house in the same sense as one shares a public toilet.

Before leaving the house, I had given our elf instructions to have dinner waiting for my husband. He was due back sometime that evening while I was gone, so I would not have the misfortune of dining with him. I contemplated going back inside and giving the house elf some poison to slip into my husband's meal, but decided there were too many other pressing concerns.

After all, if there was one thing I have learned from the Dark Lord, it is that death is the ultimate sacrifice one can make for another person. Perhaps second to that is a term in Azkaban.

I probably should be in the wizarding prison, what with all the things I've done. The Dark Lord keeps the Aurors off my back, though. He knows that I am too valuable for him to lose.

On the front stoop of the house, I Disapparated. The Dark Mark on my arm burned, and I hoped that the Dark Lord was summoning me personally.

Reaching the graveyard near his mansion brought disappointment. The other followers were gathering round, coming from their respective stations. Glancing over them, I saw my husband whispering with his brother, Rabastan, and another young wizard that I did not know.

Stupid, stupid men.

I ignored them, seeking out the Dark Lord instead.

I found him off to the side, talking to Malfoy. My throat constricted at the sight of the noxious man. I never understood my sister's marriage to him, let alone how she could allow the dog to impregnate her. The thought made me sick – wizards should leave themselves pure to the pursuit of power.

Again, that was another basic thing I learned under the Dark Lord. The physical body was not something to defile by another person's desires. Giving in to physical desire meant giving up power, and power was the only thing a pureblood wizard should desire.

The Dark Lord spotted me and slipped Malfoy a small package wrapped in dull parchment. I bristled, taking a sharp breath. Malfoy said nothing, did not even acknowledge me, and stepped away to join his friends Nott and McNair. I shivered as my eyes followed him.

"What has you concerned, Bella?" the Dark Lord asked soothingly. "You come to me disappointed."

"I had hoped you had something for me to do," I said, sounding like an impudent child.

"I have many servants. You would be wise to remember that."

I stepped closer to him, and he shook his head. Immediately I stepped off, my heart pounding. It was the closest that the Dark Lord ever allowed me to get to him, even though he knew I wanted more. I looked him in his eyes.

"There is a traitor near us, Bella."

My body tingled, as it always did when he called me that name. He was the only one to do so, having created it as a token of his favoritism. As far as I know, he does not call any of his other servants by a shortened name – for they are merely that, servants.

The Dark Lord went on, "He is near to you."

I looked him over, trying to decipher whether he was giving me a warning against this traitor or a warning against himself.

"My husband? I can dispose of him for you," I said, twirling my wand around with the fingers of my right hand. I was willing, eager even, to do whatever the Dark Lord commanded of me. It was one of the reasons I was his favorite.

"No, I think not. That would give you too much pleasure. Plus, your husband is still performing a necessary function for me."

_Except that I might kill him anyway, _I thought to myself.

"Of course you might, Bella." The Dark Lord smiled knowingly at me. "You are not one to stay with a powerless man. Now go take your place in the circle."

Again tingles ran from my stomach through my arms to my fingers and down my legs. A rush of irritation replaced my excitement, as I thought how he knew exactly how to keep me from doing what I wanted, and I made my way back to the gathered Death Eaters. I took my place in the circle next to my husband. He did not look at me as I stepped next to him.

"I don't know why you waste your time so," he mocked me.

"Shut your mouth, you filthy cuckold," I spat back to him.

"Sharp as always. I'm surprised your tongue isn't forked. Perhaps you should have _him_ make it so."

"Go to hell, Lestrange."

"Careful, that's yourself you're talking about there."

Just as I was going to curse him, the Dark Lord walked into the center of the ring – his call for silence. I stiffened and stood at attention.

"Welcome, my faithful followers. I called you together tonight because I must tell you that my plans are nearly ready. This may be noted by one absence tonight."

At his words, I glanced over the group. Immediately, I noticed not one, but _two,_ of our numbers missing.

Snape.

The filthy traitor. He had to be just as impotent as my husband – completely unable to understand the true meaning of power and the attainment of it.

I glanced to the second empty space, this one directly across from me.

Regulus. My little cousin.

I swallowed. The Dark Lord's words faded into a cold wind around me. For several days, my cousin had been acting mysteriously. And now the Dark Lord had intimated that there was a traitor near to me.

Regulus knew. He had figured it out. He had no idea of the damage he could do. My husband pretended that there was nothing to it; neither he nor I spoke of it. The Dark Lord knew – he was the very reason for the secret.

After all, I was his favorite.

At that point, Regulus Apparated.

He knelt down before the Dark Lord, ready to be admonished for his tardiness. The Dark Lord stepped over to him, exchanging words that I could not hear, then screaming filled the air as my cousin writhed under the Cruciatus Curse.

Suddenly the screams stopped.

"As I was explaining, some of you may have noticed the new absence tonight," the Dark Lord said as he turned back to the rest of us. "If someone else has information that I might find pertinent, something that will allow me to avoid a _mistake_ – I suggest that information be divulged now. I do not have to say again that I do not tolerate mistakes.

"After some deliberation, I have decided to proceed with my plans. My new servant has handed me the perfect opportunity despite the latest blunder. I have decided that I will proceed then work on obtaining what lies inside the Ministry."

My thoughts wandered back to my cousin. Squinting, I could see the obvious relief on his face. I wondered what he had been up to the past couple days – then I realized that it coincided with the disappearance of his brother, that blood-traitorous Sirius.

Perhaps the secret was safe. Maybe Regulus was simply planning to sell us all out to the Aurors. For all I cared, he could turn my husband in. The Dark Lord would keep me safe, and if not, I would be proud to serve a sentence for him. However, being betrayed by my cousin was not a way by which I wanted to leave the Dark Lord's service.

The Dark Lord fell silent, and I realized his speech had come to an end. He started to go around the circle, whispering to each of us our respective tasks for the coming days. He merely nodded to my husband. I hoped that he had the pleasure of staking out a public toilet somewhere.

In front of me, he leaned close with his wand in hand. The fingers on his other hand ran up and down it slowly, as if he were suggesting something to me. Next to me, my husband coughed and the Dark Lord's fingers stopped moving.

"Bella. What to do with you. I have decided that you should handle the one who plans to betray me. He knows a secret that cannot be allowed to escape – you must finish him."

"Who is it, my master?"

"He stands across from you."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he moved on to the Death Eater on the other side of me, my brother-in-law. I did not pay attention to what was said to him, for my eyes were locked on the person the Dark Lord had marked: Regulus.

My little cousin planned to betray the Dark Lord. After all that I had done for him. I brought him here – I introduced him to the Dark Lord personally. And my repayment, the Dark Lord's repayment, was treachery. I brought only those I believed would truly serve the Dark Lord, and he trusted me to do so. Having delivered a traitor to him was something he would not easily forgive, especially given that Regulus was a member of my family.

Lost in my thoughts, I did not notice as the Dark Lord disbanded the meeting and the circle broke apart. Regulus made his way over to me.

"Where the bloody hell were you, Regulus?" I hissed to my cousin.

"Kreacher…you know how the old elf is…knocked over the flagon of dragon's blood, couldn't let it waste…"

He was obviously lying. His mother hated dragons' blood and had forbidden their father from keeping it in the house years ago.

Of course, that was after I tried to use it to hex Regulus, but that was beside the point.

"He knows, cousin. He knows you were up to something before you came here," I whispered to him. "You had best tell him what it is. If he finds out before you do, he'll kill you."

"I think he's going to kill me anyway," Regulus said. He paused for a second then continued with an insolent tone in his voice. "The family name only goes so far."

"It's that way only because you suddenly refuse to secure your position. I have to wonder what's gotten into you. I wonder if the only reason you are allowed into the house is because of blood – otherwise you would be locked out, you Mudblood-lover."

"I have found out things I would rather not know," he said, letting the insult slide. He glanced to both sides of where he was standing.

I wanted to smack him. I forced myself to keep my arm at my side.

"What can that possibly be?" I stepped closer to him, thinking back to the day with the dragon's blood, wishing that I had some right now. "Or are you going to run to your brother, that filthy blood-traitor? You always did that. You could never stand up for yourself. He's with the Potters. He'll probably die with them."

"Sirius is quite free to do as he pleases. Perhaps you have forgotten that he ran away from the family, disowning himself," he said. "I don't care who he consorts with."

I wrinkled my nose. The Dark Lord's words came back to me.

Leaving him with a warning, I said, "You won't survive, Regulus. The Dark Lord is getting ready for the final takeover. He will only have those with proven loyalty at his side. All others…will be cast aside."

He nodded as if to show that he understood my meaning. I wanted to ask him what he had thought he was doing, why he had chosen to thank us in this manner. Before I could do anything, he turned and walked away. Not bothering to find my husband, I Disapparated to Grimmauld Place – knowing first that I must take care of my cousin as the Dark Lord bade me to do, then that I had to talk to my own sister, Narcissa.

She was the only other person to whom I had confessed the secret.


	5. Bellatrix Lestrange: 2

AN: Thank you to Losille2000 for the beta work! Wonderful as always!

II

After finishing the business with my cousin, leaving him drowning in the street, I returned home. My robes felt dirty after he tried to cough blood all over them. I wanted to change and make myself presentable before going to Malfoy Manor. At the door to my house, I waved my hand and the door opened. Inside, I found all the lights off, just as I left them. Rodolphus had not returned yet. I would have the pleasure of eating his dinner. The house elf was nowhere in sight, as a good elf should be. That was one small thing to be thankful for: the Lestrange family had better elf-stock than my own.

Kreacher, I believe, has never done any sort of cleaning in his pathetic life.

In the kitchen, I looked at the stew in the pot. The toxic smell that greeted me quelled any desire to eat, so I decided to leave it for Rodolphus. If the rotten concoction did not poison him, maybe he would choke on a piece of meat.

Upstairs, I shed my robes in my room. My husband and I have separate sleeping quarters – there was no need for us to share a bed. I was unwilling to let him touch me, for I would be giving in to his desire and subjugating myself to him. If there were to be any such giving in, it would be to _my_ desire. And I had no desire because I knew he was a weak man – completely incapable.

Leaving my robes on the ground, I grabbed a simple set, colored a dark midnight blue, and pulled a black cloak on over them. Not bothering to lock anything, I left for Malfoy Manor.

The squished, roaring feeling of Apparition surrounded me. Nearly as soon as it started, I landed on my feet before my sister's house.

Garish spires reached into the sky from the tiled roof. Gargoyles, rumored to be the transfigured enemies of Mortius Malfoy, decorated the sides of the house. The mansion was made entirely of solid grey stone that seemed to glow under the stars, and it looked like something that should have been from the Middle Ages rather than a modern wizarding home. At the door, I took the snake-shaped knocker in hand and rapped it several times against the heavy oak door. I smoothed the front of my robes as I thought about how I nearly lived here instead of my sister.

_So many years ago,_ I thought.

The door opened and the Malfoy's house elf bowed to me. I walked inside, stepping past him.

"Where is my sister?" I asked it.

"Mistress is in the sitting room with the young master," it replied.

Before I could respond it scampered away.

"Who is it? Who's there, Dobby?" Cissy called out.

"No worries, it's only me, sister," I said.

I came around the corner to the sitting room. A large fire crackled in the grate and one of the extravagant armchairs, tops adorned with arched serpents, was turned towards the door. Cissy stood before the chair, her baby held against her chest. Her long blond hair fell in a single sheet down her back.

"Bellatrix? What are you doing here?"

She patted her son's back. He squirmed and burped – a nauseating sound. And to think that I might have carried the brat instead of my sister. My stomach rebelled at the thought, making me swallow.

"It's about Regulus," I replied. Cissy said nothing, so I kept speaking. "He knows the secret. He was planning to sell us out."

"You and Rodolphus?" she asked, her eyes going wide.

"No, not Rodolphus. May he rot at the lips of the Dementors."

"Bella, why do you hate him–"

"_Don't call me that_!" I moved towards my sister and she stepped back. She nearly lost her balance; she managed to clumsily sit down in the chair. I took a seat in the chair across from her. I turned it so it faced her. The baby fidgeted, coming to rest his head against his mother's neck.

"Regulus was planning to sell out _the Dark Lord and I_. By Merlin's beard, motherhood has sapped your faculties."

Cissy simply stared at me, her jaw set.

"I had to kill him. He made me do it."

"So it seems you still have some sense of familial loyalty. Yet you never come to see your sister, your nephew," she accused me.

The words stung with truth. In the years since her marriage and my own, I had stopped by Malfoy Manor so few times I could not even recall seeing her pregnant.

"You're right," I said simply.

"Surely there's something good about Rodolphus. Sometimes you just have to make do."

"Make do? You want me to _make do_? It's nice and fine for you to say that when you've got everything you wanted!" I hissed.

"Lucius and I had no choice. As did you, Bella."

I let the nickname slide. She was my sister, after all.

Cissy continued, "You know he'll never have you."

"I know, Cissy. I know." I stared into the fire. One of the branches popped and embers went flying, landing in a new spot that would be their last place of existence before they blew out. I glanced back at her, with the baby in her arms. "What am I going to do?"

"You _are_ his favorite."

I opened my mouth to say something when Lucius crashed in through the front door. He slammed it shut; I felt the floor shake beneath my feet.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he thundered when he saw me. His blue eyes penetrated me, as they had many times before.

I stood up. "Nothing that concerns you."

Lucius grunted. I glanced over him – the small package the Dark Lord had given him was vaguely visible under his cloak. I was tempted to ask him what he was doing, but knew better than to provoke him further.

"Good to see you haven't misplaced the Dark Lord's belongings," I muttered just loudly enough for him to hear.

"At least I have better favor with him than your own husband." Lucius stepped close to me, standing just inches from me.

I could smell him – he reeked of power and deceit, a smell that used to make me weak inside. Now I know better and longed only for power itself.

I stared at Lucius. Mentally I dared him to step closer and see what would become of him.

"But now you just want what you can't have. That's always been the case with you, hasn't it?" he said silkily.

My hand flashed out to smack him. He grabbed hold of my wrist. I dared not struggle as his fingers squeezed. My heart pounded as I took several rapid breaths.

"Now get out of this house."

Lucius shoved my arm, nearly sending me to the floor. I stumbled and made my way out the door.

_Trust me, you don't have to worry about me coming back, you traitorous dog._

Perhaps, if I'd not been so angry, I would have stopped to wonder what my sister was doing, waiting up with a baby at this time of night. I might have been able to forestall some of the events that would lead to our downfall. Instead, I gathered my robes about me and returned home.


	6. Bellatrix Lestrange: 3

III

At home, I sank down in one of the chairs in the sitting room. I stared at the empty fireplace.

"Elf!" I shouted.

The sorry creature appeared before me.

"Mistress?" it bowed.

"Get a fire going. Master will be home soon." I moved to kick it, but it jumped out of my way. "You should know better than to leave the grate cold on such a night."

Which didn't make any sense as it was nearing summer.

Maybe I longed for a fire because it seemed so normal that my sister should have the simple and perfect life, making a fire absolutely necessary to one's familial wellbeing.

"Yes, Mistress," the elf responded. It squeaked as it moved out of the path of my foot once more.

Furious, I stood and kicked the leg of the chair. That insufferable Malfoy; it was his fault that I was married to this ridiculous joke of a man, Rodolphus. His marriage to my sister no longer bothered me; poor Cissy had merely been caught in the middle of pureblood games. Malfoy caved to his desire, then dared to accuse me of infidelity. It is not a secret about Rodolphus's shortcomings.

I wondered why I couldn't just dispose of my useless husband and pursue the greatest achievement for a wizard with _him_, the Dark Lord.

_Purity. It's all about purity. You know the Dark Lord would never accept something foul. This is his way of preserving you._

Another truth: the Dark Lord advised me to marry Rodolphus because of his incapableness. Plus, I would be respectfully provided for in a pureblood home.

I kicked the chair again.

"Temper, temper."

I whirled around, whipping out my wand. Rodolphus stood in the doorway. Realizing it was only him, I stopped.

"You have enough galleons to buy another chair," I retorted. My wand got tucked back into my robes.

He shrugged as he sank down in one of the other chairs. His wand dangled from his hand like the broken limb of a tree.

"I heard you went to Malfoy Manor tonight," he said, snapping his fingers with his other hand.

The elf reappeared, kneeling in prostrate before him.

"Brandy," my husband said. He looked to me. "You are never to return there."

"You can't stop me from seeing my sister," I growled.

"You've never cared about seeing her before. Plus, I don't care about your sister."

"And I care even less for Malfoy."

Rodolphus snorted. "You're attracting too much attention with all the things you've been doing."

_That's not what the Dark Lord says._

The elf returned with a glass filled with two ice cubes and two shots of brandy. My husband took the glass, swallowing down half of it.

"What do you care? The attention I attract is my affair," I said.

"You should have known better than to set off the Dark Mark! Stupid woman!" he roared. "You never think what the implications of your actions might be!"

"You're certainly right! I don't care what they entail for _you_!" I shouted in return. I wanted to take my wand out to curse him to pieces so that not even St. Mungos would have any bits to put back together.

"I spent the whole night running around, trying to fix your mistakes, rather than doing what I should have been doing. No trouble is worth this, no trouble is worth _you_ – especially when I have Longbottom riding my back like Greyback during the full moon because of it!"

"Oh, you'd like Longbottom riding your back, wouldn't you?"

Rodolphus snarled, stood, and threw the cup across the room. It shattered against the wall. He walked over to the fireplace and braced himself with both arms against the mantel.

"That's right. Throw a tantrum because _that's all you're_ _capable of doing_!" I sneered.

"ENOUGH!"

The severity of his voice froze me. I've never heard him in such a rage before.

"I also had to clean up the mess you made of your cousin," he said in a perfectly calm tone. He turned his head to look at me.

I pressed myself back into the chair. Living with my husband has taught me a few things about him at the least, despite a lack of affection. I knew he was bringing up the Dark Mark and my cousin because Longbottom had gotten involved. There was a line I was pushing, and unless I wanted to see something truly nasty, worthy of the Death Eater label, I knew I had best stop provoking him.

"Longbottom was there," I whispered.

"Your cousin was last spotted with one of _their_ group. Who knows what they know.

"You brought him here, Bellatrix. You brought him into this service and now we're all going to go to Azkaban because of the mistakes you keep making." His voice was low and threatening.

My fingers gripped the arms of the chair. Two thoughts went through my head at the same time:

First, that Regulus did not know about the truth of the Dark Lord and I.

Second, that he had done something to cross the Dark Lord personally.

_What did you _do_, Regulus?_

"Thankfully, _they_ have no better idea of what he was doing than we do. All I know is that I have been commanded to find a sword – the sword of that blood-traitor Gryffindor. But instead I spent the night throwing Longbottom off the trail of what happened to your cousin."

"The Dark Lord told me to kill him," I defended. "I had no choice – I had to kill him."

"And so you leave him in a bloody pile in the middle of Hogsmeade?!" Regulus shouted. "That's what I'm talking about – you just never listen!"

"I don't know what he did! All I know is that the Dark Lord told me he was a traitor, and I assumed that meant he was about to turn us all in! If you'd like, I can get a Time-Turner from the Ministry, go back, and fix it. Would you like that? A term in Azkaban?"

"Maybe I would, if it meant that I got to be away from you! Slytherin's beast!"

"You pathetic excuse for a wizard! You make me sick – I'd rather be married to a Muggle!"

"I'm sure the Dark Lord can arrange that, if you'd rather. You're his favorite. Why don't you ask him since you fancy him so?"

I jumped out of my seat, my wand pointed at him.

"Curse me, Bellatrix. Go right ahead and curse me. I've got death, or Azkaban _then_ death ahead of me. Kill me like you killed your cousin. I'm only your husband."

His change in subject made me stop. "Husband you may be, but not lover," I hissed in return.

"Of course not. I'm not stupid. The Dark Lord forbade me from touching you. You should know most of all what happens to those who go against his orders. Not to mention you'd probably have hexed it off anyways."

Cue the fourth revelation of the night. All these years, Rodolphus had lied to me. I eyed him over, a smug look rested on his face. For the first time, he resonated with _power_.

"But you don't love me," I stammered.

"Of course I don't. You're an impossible creature. I can't even say if _he_ loves you, but he certainly has a special interest in you."

"You're only here to make sure I stay safe," I whispered. Pieces were beginning to make sense.

"If anyone else knew the truth of your attachment to the Dark Lord, they'd kill you, Bellatrix. Surely you know that."

"That's the only reason you married me?"

Rodolphus took a deep breath before answering. "As I said, one does not defy the Dark Lord's commands."

"I still don't love you." I was desperate to make that clear. I owed him no allegiance – only more to the Dark Lord for looking after me in a way I could never imagine.

"I would never let myself become deluded so. We have a marriage of convenience. He gets to keep you, I get to be closer to the him, and you get to stay his favorite."

"It's all about appearances," I said. I sank back into the chair.

"That's all it's ever been about. Now, you wouldn't happen to know anything about Gryffindor's sword, would you?"

"I have no idea. Who cares?" I shot back. I wanted to think more on how everything I believed about my world had been shattered that night. I didn't give two owl hoots about Gryffindor's sword.

"As I said, I have to fetch it for the Dark Lord."

I glanced up at Rodolphus. He was pacing the room, running his hand through his hair.

I remembered Regulus muttering something about tearing Grimmauld Place apart. And that he had met with Mundungus Fletcher just before I tracked him down.

"I hear that a certain Mundungus Fletcher might know where it is," I said slyly.

"Oh, he might? I think you could repay me for my troubles by helping me track him down," Rodolphus said with a smirk. "After we make a stop at Gringott's – I have important business there first."

A demonic grin spread across my face as I realized what he had in mind.

_This could be fun_, I thought.

As long as things continued this way, perhaps my husband and I had finally reached an understanding.


End file.
